West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered the resumption of theatres and cinema halls in the state from October 1.

The CM said the people must adhere to social distancing norms, wearing of mask and other precautionary protocols. She also mentioned that a maximum of 50 people will be allowed to participate in the gathering.

The statement was made on her twitter handle on Saturday.

"To return to normalcy, jatras, plays, open air theatres, cinemas and all musical, dance, recital and magic shows shall be allowed to function with 50 participants or less from 1 October, subject to adherence to physical distancing norms, wearing of masks and compliance to precautionary protocols," she tweeted.

These relaxations came just ahead of Durga Puja which will begin from October 22.

Earlier, Banerjee announced guidelines for the upcoming festival – the pandal needs to be open from all four sides for proper ventilation; hand sanitizers will have to be placed at entry points of pandals; wearing masks and other guidelines.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 cases in India neared the six million-mark on Sunday with 88,600 people getting infected with the virus in 24 hours. As many as 94,503 people have died due to the virus in the country. Covid-19 cases in West Bengal have gone over 2,44,240 and the death toll has crossed 4,721.